High-speed, automatic, powdered food and heated water dispenser

ABSTRACT

A dispenser for automatically dispensing a predetermined quantity of powdered food or other soluble material into a receptacle, subsequently dispensing a predetermined quantity of heated water into the receptacle with the receptacles being intermittently moved into positions for receiving the powdered material and water by a turntable that is operated in response to placement of and removal of a receptacle at a predetermined position on the turntable. The dispenser is arranged so that the materials being dispensed are discharged externally of the dispenser and the receptacles which are manually positioned being readily accessible so that the operator of the dispenser may control the rate of dispensing operations in accordance with their own capabilities and in accordance with the demand for the food product thereby adapting the device for use with a commercial or institutional feeding line.

United States Patent [:91

Greenfield, Jr. et al.

1 1 HIGH-SPEED, AUTOMATIC, POW'DERED FOOD AND HEATED WATER DISPENSER [75] lnventors: Irving E. Greenfield, Jr., Miami;

Bruce F. House, North Miami Beach; Ronald C. Jacobson; Jack A. Morrow, both of Miami, all of Fla.

[73] Assignee: Food Systems, Inc. (Entire), Miami,

Fla.

[22] Filed: Apr. 16, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 461,457

{52] US. Cl. 141/82; 141/85; 141/103; 141/104; 141/129 [51] Int. Cl. B65B 3/04; B65B 1/04 [58] Field of Search 141/99, 103, 82, 174, 129, 141/104, 85, 35l362 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,364,959 1/1968 Herman et a1 141/174 1 Oct. 28, 1975 Primary E.raminerHouston S. Bell, Jr. Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Clarence A. O'Brien; Harvey B. Jacobson 57 ABSTRACT A dispenser for automatically dispensing a predetermined quantity of powdered food or other soluble ma terial into a receptacle, subsequently dispensing a predetermined quantity of heated water into the receptacle with the receptacles being intermittently moved into positions for receiving the powdered material and water by a turntable that is operated in response to placement of and removal of a receptacle at a predetermined position on the turntable. The dispenser is arranged so that the materials being dispensed are dis charged externally of the dispenser and the receptacles which are manually positioned being readily accessible so that the operator of the dispenser may control the rate of dispensing operations in accordance with their own capabilities and in accordance with the demand for the food product thereby adapting the device for use with a commercial or institutional feeding line.

14 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures US. Patent 0a. 28, 1975 Sheet 1 of3 Fig. 3

Sheet 2 of 3 Patent 0a. 28, 1975 IIIIIIIIIIIII 1111111,

Sheet 3 of 3 HIGH-SPEED, AUTOMATIC, POWDERED FOOD AND HEATED WATER DISPENSER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention generally relates to a dispenser and more particularly a dispenser capable of external discharge of a predetermined quantity of powdered, soluble material in a receptacle at one station and subsequently discharging a predetermined quantity of heated water at another station with the receptacles being moved from station to station by a turntable that is actuated in response to placement of and removal of a receptacle in a predetermined position on the turntable.

2. Description of the Prior Art Devices for dispensing flowable materials into an externally accessible receptacle are well known and employed in many situations where it is desirable to dispense beverages and the like. For example, US. Pat. No. 2,8l4,3 l7 issued Nov. 26, I967, discloses a dispenser of this type which is coin operated that includes an internal cup supply and dispenser and a turntable to move the cup sequentially and must complete its sequence of operations prior to the commencing of a subsequent sequence thus materially restricting the output potential of the device. US. Pat. No. 2.8798] 1 issued Mar. 3 l, 1959, discloses a coin operated dispenser which also processes cups singly and utilizing an inter nal cup supply and dispenser. Other patents which are exemplary of developments in dispensing devices utilizing turntables are U.S. Pat. No. 2.934.872 issued May 3. i960; US. Pat. No. 3,023.790 issued Mar. 6. i962 and US. Pat. No. 3.354.614 issued Nov. 28. 1967. Prior US. Pat. No. 3,420,4l4 issued Jan. 7, 1969 discloses a hot water heater and dispenser for dispensing a predetermined quantity of not water into a cup for dissolving a powdered food, beverage or the like. While such devices have been widely used and perform satisfactorily in some circumstances. they do not perform satisfactorily where it is desirable to have a high speed, automatic, powdered food and hot water dispenser such as on a commercial or institutional feeding line.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a high speed. automatic powdered food and heated water dispenser which discharges the materials externally of the machine for external mixing and is particularly adapted for use as a component of commercial or institutional tray-line meal assembly for automatically dispensing individual servings of powdered food without the high cost, inconvenience and litter of pre-made sin gle service packages.

Another object of the invention is to provide a dispenser incorporating a turntable therein on which an operator positions receptacles and includes means for varying the amount of food powder dispensed, varying the amount of heated water dispensed. enabling selective dispensing of only powdered food or only heated water and is easily powdered by unskilled personnel and is simply and easily cleaned in order to maintain a high degree of sanitation. The dispenser provides sufficient hot water for commercial or institutional feeding lines and allows use of powdered foods. highly hygroscopic powders and portion control. Sufficient hot water is supplied for non-meal beverage requirements and to satisfy other hot water needs in the kitchen thus saving space and the cost of other equipment.

In commercial or institutional tray-line meal assembly, trays on which the meal is delivered to individuals usually move along a conveying device or other apparatus so that selected items may be placed on the tray. For many years, food products have been stored and individually prepared in bulk form and individual servings of such food products were placed into a container and then placed on the tray. For example. coffee urns were used in which coffee was brewed and individually dispensed into cups by manual manipulation of a valve and the filled cups placed on trays.

With the advent of powdered foods and ingredients such as freeze dried coffee. instant tea, dehydrated vegetables, eggs and the like such materials have been utilized inasmuch as they require substantially less storage area and materially increase the shelf life of products and provide uniformity of finished products by standardization of ingredients and preparation and materially rcduce waste due to food spoilage and preparation of excess quantities of food products employing conventional procedures. However. even with the use of such products. the individual opening of packages, positioning the contents of each package in a container and then placing hot water in the container requires considerable time and introduces various problems of spillage and accurate control of the quantity of water and reduces the possibility of varying the quantity of food product in each receptacle.

Accordingly. the present invention provides a high speed, automatic dispenser for powdered food. beverages or the like in which a predetermined but variable quantity of food product may be dispensed into a cup or other receptacle with the cup or other receptacle then being moved into position for receiving a predetermined but variable quantity of hot water with the production rate of the dispenser being responsive to removal of and positioning of cups or other receptacles on a turntable thereby overcoming many of the inefficiencies and shortcomings of presently available dispensing devices.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed. reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof. wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the dispenser of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 22 of FIG. I illustrating the powdered material dispensing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 3-3 of FIG. I illustrating the heated water dispensing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 4-4 illustrating further structural details of the dispenser.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the turntable illustrating the structure thereof and the association of the cups therewith.

FIG. 6 is a detailed sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 66 of FIG. 4

illustrating further structural details of the powdered material dispensing apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a schematic wiring diagram illustrating the association of the components of the dispenser.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now specifically to the drawings. the dispenser of the present invention is generally designated by reference numeral 10 and may be supported on any suitable supporting structure 12 alongside of or as part of a commercial or institutional meal preparation feeding line with the dispenser including an upright cabinet structure 12 incorporating a base portion 14 and a top portion l6 spaced therefrom and interconnected by a rear portion 18. This provides a cabinet of compact configuration with the upper portion 16 having less front-to-rear depth than the lower portion 14 as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3.

The cabinet structure includes end walls 20, a lower front wall 22, an intermediate front wall 24 and an upper front wall 26. The lower portions of the end walls 20, the front wall 22 and the lower end of the intermediate wall 24 are interconnected by a panel or work area 28 that is spaced below an intermediate horizontal wall 30 which forms a closure for the work space between the lower portion 14 and the upper portion 16 of the cabinet. The upper portion of the cabinet 16 is provided with a top wall 32 having an end portion 34 thereof hinged thereto by a hinge 36 to provide access into the interior of the cabinet at the end portion thereof.

Mounted above the panel 28 is a turntable 38 having three radially extending arms 40 thereon which are equally spaced and provided with curved leading edges 42 and curved trailing edges 44 as illustrated in FIG. 5 with the turntable being rotatable in a clockwise direction as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 5 about an axis defined by a vertical shaft 46 extending down through the panel 28 and being driven by a suitable electric motor and gear head assembly 48 supported in the lower portion of the cabinet by a suitable bracket structure 50 and being provided with a suitable electrical conductor 52 for supplying energy to the gear head motor 48. As illustrated the arms 40 are specifically constructed to receive and retain conventional cups 54 such as coffee cups or the like although the shape and configuration of the receptacles positioned in the curved edge 42 of the arms 40 may be varied and the shape and configuration of the leading edge of the arms may be varied to receive different shapes and sizes of receptacles. As illustrated. the cups 54 rest on the upper surface of the panel 28 which may be slightly recessed but is substantially planar and smooth so that the cups may be moved in a circular path by the arms 40 with the curved leading edge 42 of the arms 40 extending peripherally around the cup sufficiently to retain the cup in position as it is moved in a circular path about the vertical axis of shaft 46. As illustrated, the turntable is oriented in underlying relation to that end of the upper portion 16 of the cabinet having the hinged door or closure member 34 therein and the panel 28 slopes slightly toward and is provided with a recessed drain pan 56 having a drain conduit 58 connected to the low point therein and extending to a suitable drain facility. The top of the drain pan 56 is provided with a slotted cover 60 for passage of any liquid that may be spilled from the cups or any discharge from a manual dispensing device located above the drain pan 56 as described in detail hereinafter.

Mounted interiorly of the upper portion 16 of the cabinet below the pivotal closure lid 34 is a dispensing apparatus for powdered food material which is generally designated by numeral 62 and includes an inverted container 64 of any suitable material such as glass, plastic. metal or the like for receiving a quantity of powdered material 66 such as powdered food. beverages and the like. The container 64 includes a neck 68 that is externally threaded for threaded engagement into a conical or funnel-shaped member 70 supported by a partition wall 72 carried by brackets 74 which extend downwardly to and are mounted on the horizontal wall 30. The front wall 26 of the upper portion 16 of the cabinet is provided with an access door 76 that has its upper edge coincident with the upper corner of the upper portion 16 of the cabinet and the lower edge hingedly supported from the front wall 26 by a hinge 78. This enables the container 64 to be removed after the powdered material 66 therein has been exhausted and refilled and then placed back into the dispenser. lnteriorly of the conical member 70, a tube 80 is provided for dispensing material with the upper end of the tube 80 including a funnel-shaped member 82 connected with the container 64. The tube 80 extends through a solenoid actuated valve and vibrator assembly 84 which will open the tube 80 for discharge of material and vibrate the assembly in such a manner to assure a constant rate of discharge of the powdered material. The discharge tube extends down through a small heating coil 86 retained in a housing 88 which may be secured to the tube 80 or secured to the partition wall 30 and serves to keep the discharge tube and especially the lower discharge end portion thereof dry so that the powdered material will not clog the discharge tube. The specific structural details of the vibrating and dispensing valve assembly including the funnel-shaped members 82 and 70 are not disclosed inasmuch as such items are commercially available and the details thereof do not form a particular part of this invention except in their association with the other components.

Positioned on the partition or wall 30 are a pair of timer controls 90 and 92 which are activated in a manner described hereinafter. On the front wall 26 adjacent the door 76, there is provided an adjustable timer knob 94 which controls a timer which independently meters all manual requirements in quantities greater than one serving of powdered food. A push button switch 96 on wall 26 and located above the timer 94 will meter only a single serving when depressed. Located below the timer 94 is a three position toggle switch 98 which includes manual, off and automatic positions with suitable indicia indicating the three positions of the switch 98 so that the product dispenser may be de-energized when the switch 98 is in the off position or the product dispenser may be conditioned to a manual mode or automatic mode depending upon the position of the switch 98.

Positioned in the upper portion 16 of the cabinet 10 are two water tanks or containers 100 and 102 which receive water from a supply line 104 through a T- coupling and a pair of branch lines 106 each of which is controlled by a solenoid valve 108 with the tank 100 .being non-pressurized and gravity flow and the tank 102 being also non-pressurized and gravity flow and each tank includes a heating element 110 associated therewith which is thermostatically controlled for maintaining the water therein at a predetermined temperature. The heating element 110 is mounted externally against the bottom of the respective tank, as illustrated in FIG. 3, by a clamp assembly 11 1. The bottom 101 of the tanks may be aluminum or other material having good heat transfer properties. The tank 100 is provided with a discharge tube 112 associated with the turntable so that it will discharge water into a cup positioned thereunder when a cup 54 has moved from a position receiving the powdered food product to a position underlying the discharge tube 112. The timer 92 controls the opening of the valve 108 leading to the tank 100 so that a predetermined quantity of water will be discharged depending upon the adjustment of the timer 92 thus enabling a cup to be provided with a selected quantity of water such as 6 or 8 ounces for example. Positioned behind the discharge tube 112 is a small blower 114 driven by a small electric motor. The fan circulates air over the discharge tube to keep vapors away from the powdered product dispensing tube 80. Suitable deflectors or vanes may be provided for direct ing the air and any vapor entrained therein from the hot water away from the powdered product dispensing tube. As illustrated, the discharge tube 112 for the water from the tank 100 extends to a point adjacent the upper end thereof as illustrated in FIG. 3 so that an adequate supply of water will be maintained.

The tank 102 includes a discharge tube 116 extending through the front wall 26 into a faucet 118 having a downwardly directed discharge spout 120 which is provided for dispensing hot water into a large container or the like which is controlled by a push button switch 122 which operates the solenoid 108 for feeding water into the tank 102.

Positioned under the turntable 38 is a microswitch 124 and a dual microswitch 126 which may be secured in place on the panel 28 or recessed therein or mounted in any suitable manner so that the switches 124 and 126 will be properly oriented in relation to the turntable, arms and cups 54 carried thereby. The switches 124 and 126 are preferably of the leaf type and control the turntable, the flow of powdered product and hot water with the switch 124 activating the product flow from the storage jar or container 64 into a cup 54 and the switch 126 operating the water solenoid valve 108 which supplies water to the tank 100 thus automatically filling a cup 54 under the discharge tube 112 with the timer 92 determining the quantity of water discharged into the cup and the timer 90 determining the quantity of powdered product dispensed into the cup. The switch 126 also stops the turntable when activated by the cup 54 and will retain the turntable in its stopped condition until the full cup 54 is removed. The removal of the full cup from under the discharge tube 112 enables the microswitch 126 to actuate the turntable thus moving an empty cup placed in the recess in the leading edge of the arm adjacent the outer edge of the panel 28 to be moved into position under the product dispensing tube for activating switch 124 and timer 90 and the cup which has the powdered product therein to be moved into alignment with the water discharge tube 112 at which point the switch 126 stops the turntable and dispenses water by activating timer 92.

As observed in FIG. 1, three cups 54 are illustrated with the cups oriented at the three stations of movement by the turntable. One cup is under the discharge tube for the powdered product or at the product receiving station. A second cup 54 illustrated in FIG. 1 as positioned under the water discharge tube 112 has been filled with water after it had received the powdered product thus forming a beverage or liquid food and this cup is at the water receiving station. The third cup illustrated is empty and has been positioned by an operator of the machine and is at the empty cup station. in the condition illustrated in FIG. 1, the cup at the product receiving station has received a predetermined quantity of product and the cup at the water receiving station has received a predetermined quantity of water and the turntable 38 is stopped and will remain stopped until the filled cup at the water receiving station is removed since the cup holds the normally closed contacts of switch 126 connected to motor 48 in open condition until the filled cup is removed. When this occurs, the motor contacts in microswitch 126, which are normally closed, will be closed when the full cup is removed thus energizing the turntable which will move the cup that is in the product receiving station to the water receiving station and will move the cup from the empty station to the product receiving station. When this occurs, the cup which is moved to the water receiving station will open the normally closed motor contacts in switch 126 which will stop the turntable and close the normally open valve solenoid contacts in switch 126 to activate the water solenoid valve 108 in the tank thus discharging a predetermined quantity of water into the cup as determined by timer 92. At the same time. the empty cup which has moved to the product receiving station will close the normally open switch 124 thus actuating the dispensing vibrator 84 for dispensing a predetermined quantity of product as determined by the timer 90. After the predetermined quantity of water and product have been dispensed, the timers will interrupt flow of water and product and the turntable will remain stationary until the filled cup at the water receiving station is removed. Thus, operation of the turntable is continuous until a cup opens motor contacts in switch 126. Under these circumstances. an operator may control the speed of operation of the device by selecting the time at which a filled cup is removed. This enables the operator to properly position an empty cup before removing the filled cup and enables the operation of the dispenser to be controlled in response to the speed of the feeding line since the oper' ator will place the filled cup on the tray as the tray moves past the dispenser.

Operation of the dispenser in a manual mode eliminates the operation of the turntable with the product being dispensed directly into the cup by activation of push button switch 96 for single servings or use of timer 94 for multiple servings with the water being dispensed into the cap from the faucet 118 by operating the push button switch 122. Any excess water or spillage will be drained from the device through the drain pan and tube.

In practice, the dispenser will deliver a portion controlled beverage or food ready to be covered and placed on a meal tray with a cycle time of preferably approximately 6 seconds for a 6 ounce beverage which allows an operator to cap the beverage and put an empty cup in the turntable at the empty cup station. A suitable dispensing device may be provided for cup lids or covers and also the cups themselves depending upon the type of product being dispensed. Also. a pressurized hot water tank may be added to the back of the cabinet if required in some installations but usually, the inlet line attached to or connected with the normal hot water supply will be adequate. The food product and water being dispensed separately and not being mixed within the machine provides a unique arrangement and one which is easily cleaned and enables selective dispensing of either food or water without activating the other. The dispenser has particular facility for use as a component of commercial or institutional meal preparation feeding lines inasmuch as it is activated by manual placement of a suitable food receptacle at a predetermined position on a turntable, has its productive output and operating speed regulated by placement and removal of a suitable food receptacle at a predetermined position on a turntable and has its finished food output exactly matched to the speed of any such feeding line delivering up to 600 meals per hour, by selective placement and removal of food receptacles in pre determined places on a turntable. The dispenser utilizes a novel concept of separate but simultaneous de livery of metered amounts of food powder and heated water and it separately but simultaneously dispenses and enables subsequent mixing of predetermined metered servings of food powder and heated water external of the enclosed operating portion of the machine itself. This arrangement provides a solution of a major sanitation problem existent in previous dispensers by eliminating an internal mixing chamber which requires cleaning after every machine cycle and frequently does not satisfy sanitation codes or users who receive servings contaminated by other foods previously dispensed. Other dispensers which do not use a mixing chamber must contend with splashing, spillage and internal food powder and water leakage with both systems leading to bacteria, odor and insects. This arrangement also provides a solution for a safety problem caused by internal mixing in previous dispensing devices which requires steam and superheated water to clean the mixing chamber which is extremely dangerous in a machine constantly being used and serviced. Other dispensing devices have the problem arising from internal water spillage from cups or leakage from a nozzle into an exposed. powered electrical device. This arrangement provides a greater simplicity of construction than previous dispensing devices through elimination of the inter nal mixing chamber and other electrical circuits, subsystems and components required by internal mixing and is appreciably less expensive to build and requires much less maintenance and service. The use of low voltage controls provides safeguard against electrical shock and external water dispensing eliminates problems caused by internal water spillage and leakage. Also, pressurized or non-pressurized water tanks may be employed with the type and number of tanks being varied depending on the requirements of the installations.

The dispenser includes several important safety features such as controlling high-speed hot water flow by inaccessible microswitches instead of an easily misused faucet handle in a high traffic area, activation of the hot water flow by a receptacle rather than an operators hand, placement and removal of receptacles in the hot water flow area by a turntable rather than an operator's hand and replacing a faucet handle with a push button switch, in manual filling, thus reducing the possibility of accidental activation of the hot water flow and to assure a complete and instantaneous stop of the hot water flow.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A dispensing device for powdered food product and hot water comprising conveying means carrying receptacles sequentially into registry with a soluble powdered food product discharge means and a water discharge means with said means being spaced from each other and oriented externally of a cabinet, means dispensing a predetermined quantity of food product into a receptacle from the food discharge means and means simultaneously discharging a predetermined quantity of water into a different receptacle from the water discharge means and means mounted adjacent the water discharge means to actuate the conveying means one increment of movement to move a receptacle from registry with the product discharge means into registry with the water discharge means in response to removal of a filled cup from registry with the water discharge means.

2. The structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said dispensing means for the food product and said dispensing means for the water include independent adjustments to enable variation in the quantity of food product and water dispensed.

3. The structure as defined in claim 2 wherein said conveying means is in the form of a turntable rotatable about a central axis and including three radial arms having means on the leading edge thereof for receiving a cup with one of the arms being disposed at an empty cup station when the other two arms are in registry with the product discharge means and water discharge means whereby the operator of the dispensing device may control the output speed by selecting when the filled cup is removed from registry with the water discharge means.

4. The structure as defined in claim 3 wherein said product dispensing means and water dispensing means may be selectively and manually actuated independent of each other.

5. The structure as defined in claim 4 wherein each of said dispensing means includes a downwardly opening discharge spout.

6. The structure as defined in claim 5 wherein the discharge spout for the food product is provided with a heater to prevent moisture absorption and clogging of the spout.

7. The structure as defined in claim 6 wherein the water discharge spout includes a small fan associated therewith to deflect water vapor away from the food discharge spout.

8. The structure as defined in claim 7 wherein the cabinet includes a water heater and water tank connected with the water discharge spout for providing a supply of hot water.

9. The structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said about a central axis and including three radial arms having means on the leading edge thereof for receiving a cup with one of the arms being disposed at an empty cup station when the other two arms are in registry with the product discharge means and water discharge means whereby the operator of the dispensing device may control the output speed by selecting when the filled cup is removed from registry with the water discharge means.

10. The structure as defined in claim 9 wherein each of said dispensing means includes a downwardly opening discharge spout, the discharge spout of the food product being provided with a heater to prevent moisture absorption and clogging of the spout, the water discharge spout including a small fan associated therewith to deflect water vapor away from the food discharge spout.

II. A dispenser comprising a dispensing means for a quantity of soluble powdered product, a dispensing means for a quantity of product solvent, said dispensing means being spaced from each other and for high speed automatic and simultaneous dispensing of a controlled portion of product and solvent into independent receptacles to facilitate use in a commercial tray-line meal assembly, turntable means disposed externally of the dispenser receiving a plurality of receptacles and moving them sequentially from registry with the product dispensing means to registry with the solvent dispensing means in response to removal of the receptacle from the turntable which is in registry with the solvent dispensing means, each of said dispensing means being actuated to dispense a predetermined quantity of product and solvent in response to movement of a receptacle into registry therewith for mixing the powdered product and solvent externally of the dispenser.

12. The structure as defined in claim 11 wherein said turntable means includes at least three receptacles receiving areas to enable an empty receptacle to be positioned in a vacant area when two other receptacles are in Stationary registry with the respective dispensing means with the turntable means remaining stationary until the receptacle in registry with the solvent dispensing means is removed from the turntable thereby positioning and removing receptacles from a hot solvent flow area by use of the turntable means, said turntable means including inaccessible microswitch means for actuation of the dispensing means by a receptacle rather than an operators hand engaging an easily mis used faucet.

13. The structure as defined in claim 1 1 wherein each of said dispensing means includes independent manual control means for high-speed manual dispensing a predetermined quantity of product or solvent. said manual control means for the solvent including a push button switch rather than a faucet handle in a high traffic area to reduce the possibility of accidental activation and assure complete and instantaneous shut-off of hot water.

14. The structure as defined in claim ll wherein each of said dispensing means includes adjustment means by which the quantity of product and solvent dispensed during each actuation thereof is independently adjusted. 

1. A dispensing device for powdered food product and hot water comprising conveying means carrying receptacles sequentially into registry with a soluble powdered food product discharge means and a water discharge means with said means being spaced from each other and oriented externally of a cabinet, means dispensing a predetermined quantity of food product into a receptacle from the food discharge means and means simultaneously discharging a predetermined quantity of water into a different receptacle from the water discharge means and means mounted adjacent the water discharge means to actuate the conveying means one increment of movement to move a receptacle from registry with the product discharge means into registry with the water discharge means in response to removal of a filled cup from registry with the water discharge means.
 2. The structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said dispensing means for the food product and said dispensing means for the water include independent adjustments to enable variation in the quantity of food product and water dispensed.
 3. The structure as defined in claim 2 wherein said conveying means is in the form of a turntable rotatable about a central axis and including three radial arms having means on the leading edge thereof for receiving a cup with one of the arms being disposed at an empty cup station when the other two arms are in registry with the product discharge means and water discharge means whereby the operator of the dispensing device may control the output speed by selecting when the filled cup is removed from registry with the water discharge means.
 4. The structure as defined in claim 3 wherein said product dispensing Means and water dispensing means may be selectively and manually actuated independent of each other.
 5. The structure as defined in claim 4 wherein each of said dispensing means includes a downwardly opening discharge spout.
 6. The structure as defined in claim 5 wherein the discharge spout for the food product is provided with a heater to prevent moisture absorption and clogging of the spout.
 7. The structure as defined in claim 6 wherein the water discharge spout includes a small fan associated therewith to deflect water vapor away from the food discharge spout.
 8. The structure as defined in claim 7 wherein the cabinet includes a water heater and water tank connected with the water discharge spout for providing a supply of hot water.
 9. The structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said conveying means is in the form of a turntable rotatable about a central axis and including three radial arms having means on the leading edge thereof for receiving a cup with one of the arms being disposed at an empty cup station when the other two arms are in registry with the product discharge means and water discharge means whereby the operator of the dispensing device may control the output speed by selecting when the filled cup is removed from registry with the water discharge means.
 10. The structure as defined in claim 9 wherein each of said dispensing means includes a downwardly opening discharge spout, the discharge spout of the food product being provided with a heater to prevent moisture absorption and clogging of the spout, the water discharge spout including a small fan associated therewith to deflect water vapor away from the food discharge spout.
 11. A dispenser comprising a dispensing means for a quantity of soluble powdered product, a dispensing means for a quantity of product solvent, said dispensing means being spaced from each other and for high speed automatic and simultaneous dispensing of a controlled portion of product and solvent into independent receptacles to facilitate use in a commercial tray-line meal assembly, turntable means disposed externally of the dispenser receiving a plurality of receptacles and moving them sequentially from registry with the product dispensing means to registry with the solvent dispensing means in response to removal of the receptacle from the turntable which is in registry with the solvent dispensing means, each of said dispensing means being actuated to dispense a predetermined quantity of product and solvent in response to movement of a receptacle into registry therewith for mixing the powdered product and solvent externally of the dispenser.
 12. The structure as defined in claim 11 wherein said turntable means includes at least three receptacles receiving areas to enable an empty receptacle to be positioned in a vacant area when two other receptacles are in stationary registry with the respective dispensing means with the turntable means remaining stationary until the receptacle in registry with the solvent dispensing means is removed from the turntable thereby positioning and removing receptacles from a hot solvent flow area by use of the turntable means, said turntable means including inaccessible microswitch means for actuation of the dispensing means by a receptacle rather than an operator''s hand engaging an easily misused faucet.
 13. The structure as defined in claim 11 wherein each of said dispensing means includes independent manual control means for high-speed manual dispensing a predetermined quantity of product or solvent, said manual control means for the solvent including a push button switch rather than a faucet handle in a high traffic area to reduce the possibility of accidental activation and assure complete and instantaneous shut-off of hot water.
 14. The structure as defined in claim 11 wherein each of said dispensing means includes adjustment means by which the quantity of product and solvent dispensed during each actuation thereof is independently adjusted. 